The Debt Management Office (DMO) external debt stock reports have revealed that Nigeria’s debt to the World Bank Group increased by $7.64bn (₦3.52 trillion) between 2015 and 2022.

According to a report by The PUNCH, Nigeria's indebtedness to the World Bank rose from $6.29 billion (₦2.9 trillion) in December 2015, to $13.93 billion (₦6.42 trillion) in December 2022.

The International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of the World Bank have funded Nigeria's major developmental policies over the years.

The IBRD provides loans to creditworthy governments of low-income countries, while the IDA provides concessionary loans and grants to governments of the poorest countries.

Despite the World Bank's latest Africa’s Pulse report predicting a 2.8% economic growth for Nigeria in 2023, it warns of weak economic growth and policy challenges for the incoming administration this year.

The report reads, “The growth recovery in Nigeria for 2023 (2.8 percent) is still fragile as oil production remains subdued and the new administration faces many policy challenges.”

In 2016, Nigeria owed IDA $6.29 billion and IBRD $3.57 million, which rose to $13.45 billion and $487.03 million, respectively, in 2022. Furthermore, Nigeria's yearly borrowing from the World Bank increased from $6.67 billion in 2016 to $12.38 billion in 2021.

Nigeria's increasing debt profile has earned it a spot on the World Bank’s top 10 International Development Association borrowers’ list.

Microsoft, a leading tech company, has announced that it will be dropping Twitter from its advertisement platform, Smart Campaigns.

In a release on the company's website, it was stated that as of April 25, 2023, the Smart Campaigns platform, which allows ad buyers to manage their various social media accounts, will no longer support Twitter.

The release further stated that as of April 25, users will be unable to access their Twitter account through the social management tool, create and manage drafts or tweets, view past tweets and engagement, and schedule tweets.

However, other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn will continue to be available on the advert service.

While Microsoft did not provide any explanation for its decision, it comes after Twitter announced that it would be charging a monthly fee of $42,000 for access to its Application Programming Interface (API), which was previously free.

The API provides third parties with broad access to data that users have chosen to share publicly.

This decision by Microsoft may have been influenced by Twitter's new fee for API access. However, it remains to be seen whether this move will have any significant impact on Twitter's revenue or usage.

However, the company announced recently that it would begin charging a monthly fee of $42,000 for access in a bid to raise its revenue.

Reacting to the news on Wednesday, Twitter’s CEO, Elon Musk, made it known that he will be taking legal action. He also alleged that Microsoft illegally used Twitter’s data for “training”.

“They trained illegally, using Twitter’s data. Lawsuit time,” he tweeted on Wednesday.

When asked by a tweep, @Krassestien, if he has other long-term plans such as charging for access to its API will reduce traffic to the platform, Musk replied that he is open to ideas.

He however doubled down on his claims that the IT company was “ripping off” data from Twitter.

“I’m open to ideas, but ripping off the Twitter database, demonetizing it (removing ads) and then selling our data to others isn’t a winning solution,” he said.

Palm oil is a versatile and widely-used ingredient in many products we use daily, due to its high melting point and relatively low cost.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are the top three producers of palm oil, with several African and South American countries also significant contributors.

Although palm oil has brought income to rural communities in poorer nations, it has resulted in devastating environmental impacts and human rights violations.

Despite the challenges, the demand for palm oil continues to grow due to its low cost and high melting point, making it a ubiquitous ingredient in numerous products we use daily, including food, cosmetics, and biofuels.